Carlisle
Door: Samantha de Bruijn
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Samantha
18 Oktober 2010 | Verenigd Koninkrijk, Glasgow
Saturday the 2nd of October I got the train up to Carlisle to meet John and Beatrice again. They are both radio amateurs, just like my dad and we usually see them a couple of times a year. During my summer holiday between secondary school and university I spent six weeks in England, three of which at their place and three weeks at the homes of their two daughters. (http://www.zeelandnet.nl/weblog/data/engeland/) It was really good to see them again.
Glasgow to Carlisle is only an hour by train and Carlisle is the first stop, so I couldn't go wrong. John and Beatrice picked me up from the station and we went to Carlisle Castle (they had their own car with them). I wasn’t a 20-year old full-time Biochemistry student at the Glasgow University anymore. No, that day I was their 17-year old granddaughter, who came to visit them all the way from the Netherlands, haha. Since they have an English Heritage card, I could go in for free (that's why I had to be under 18 ).
Carlisle Castle was quite nice and we were lucky with the weather. There were some things to see in the outer ward of the castle, like the remains of the Warden's Tower where Mary, Queen of Scots was kept prison for a couple of weeks and the 'King's Own Royal Border Regiment Museum'. We could go inside the Outer Gatehouse, where the kitchen was and The Keep, which was the main building. The buildings weren't decorated on the inside and I found them rather empty, but then that made sense if you know the Outer Gatehouse has served many purposes over the centuries and the castle has been besieged many times by the Scots or the English (Carlisle is just across the border and it's officially England now, but you can imagine there were some fights about that). Considering that and the fact that it's over 900 years old, the interior must have changed so many times, that it would be almost impossible to give it one particular style. We had our imagination to do the decorating.
After visiting the castle, we went into Carlisle to get some lunch. Beatrice had to do some shopping, so John and I went to have a look at the cathedral of Carlisle. It used to be quite a big cathedral, but apparently they needed some bricks when they were building the castle, so nowadays it is actually quite small. Nevertheless, it is beautiful on the inside with big stained-glass windows and a big organ.
On the way to Whitehaven, I was in the front seat and we had some beautiful 'look-at-the-view'-moments, although the clouds were getting darker by the minute. When we arrived in Whitehaven, it was already raining, but I came prepared of course: always bring your sweater, waterproof coat, umbrella, sunglasses and photo camera. As Wikipedia will tell you: 'Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England.' I suppose it has some beautiful views on a sunny day when you can actually see the town and the Irish Sea, but I think we were quite lucky that we were even able to see where the sea was in the rain. But bad weather is the perfect excuse to get some hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. Although you can buy them almost anywhere (at least in Scotland), I never had hot chocolate with marshmallows before. I can definitely recommend it.
We had dinner in the 'Queen's Head Inn' in Tirrel, because John and Beatrice know the owners from the previous pub these people had. They also sell home-made pies and I thought there was one that looked quite ok for me, until I found out that it had rabbit in it. The honey-roasted ham with chips tasted wonderful, haha. It was really nice and just a good proportion as well. Although they had a lovely dessert menu, I was quite full and we had a train to catch, so after making a few photos of the owners and me, we headed towards the station.
They dropped me off at Penrith station, not that far away from the Inn. It was just one stop after Carlisle, so I was already in the right train to Glasgow. It took me the whole train journey to ready the Carlisle Castle guide book I bought at the castle and after I arrived at Glasgow Central Station, I took a cab back to my apartment.
Love, Samantha
--------------------------
Photos: http://s1046.photobucket.com/home/MathildeCastelijns/allalbums
Carlisle Castle: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/carlisle-castle/
King's Own Royal Border Regiment Museum: http://www.kingsownbordermuseum.btik.com/home.ikml
Carlisle Cathedral: http://www.carlislecathedral.org.uk/
The Queen's Head Inn: http://www.queensheadinn.co.uk/
Glasgow to Carlisle is only an hour by train and Carlisle is the first stop, so I couldn't go wrong. John and Beatrice picked me up from the station and we went to Carlisle Castle (they had their own car with them). I wasn’t a 20-year old full-time Biochemistry student at the Glasgow University anymore. No, that day I was their 17-year old granddaughter, who came to visit them all the way from the Netherlands, haha. Since they have an English Heritage card, I could go in for free (that's why I had to be under 18 ).
Carlisle Castle was quite nice and we were lucky with the weather. There were some things to see in the outer ward of the castle, like the remains of the Warden's Tower where Mary, Queen of Scots was kept prison for a couple of weeks and the 'King's Own Royal Border Regiment Museum'. We could go inside the Outer Gatehouse, where the kitchen was and The Keep, which was the main building. The buildings weren't decorated on the inside and I found them rather empty, but then that made sense if you know the Outer Gatehouse has served many purposes over the centuries and the castle has been besieged many times by the Scots or the English (Carlisle is just across the border and it's officially England now, but you can imagine there were some fights about that). Considering that and the fact that it's over 900 years old, the interior must have changed so many times, that it would be almost impossible to give it one particular style. We had our imagination to do the decorating.
After visiting the castle, we went into Carlisle to get some lunch. Beatrice had to do some shopping, so John and I went to have a look at the cathedral of Carlisle. It used to be quite a big cathedral, but apparently they needed some bricks when they were building the castle, so nowadays it is actually quite small. Nevertheless, it is beautiful on the inside with big stained-glass windows and a big organ.
On the way to Whitehaven, I was in the front seat and we had some beautiful 'look-at-the-view'-moments, although the clouds were getting darker by the minute. When we arrived in Whitehaven, it was already raining, but I came prepared of course: always bring your sweater, waterproof coat, umbrella, sunglasses and photo camera. As Wikipedia will tell you: 'Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England.' I suppose it has some beautiful views on a sunny day when you can actually see the town and the Irish Sea, but I think we were quite lucky that we were even able to see where the sea was in the rain. But bad weather is the perfect excuse to get some hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. Although you can buy them almost anywhere (at least in Scotland), I never had hot chocolate with marshmallows before. I can definitely recommend it.
We had dinner in the 'Queen's Head Inn' in Tirrel, because John and Beatrice know the owners from the previous pub these people had. They also sell home-made pies and I thought there was one that looked quite ok for me, until I found out that it had rabbit in it. The honey-roasted ham with chips tasted wonderful, haha. It was really nice and just a good proportion as well. Although they had a lovely dessert menu, I was quite full and we had a train to catch, so after making a few photos of the owners and me, we headed towards the station.
They dropped me off at Penrith station, not that far away from the Inn. It was just one stop after Carlisle, so I was already in the right train to Glasgow. It took me the whole train journey to ready the Carlisle Castle guide book I bought at the castle and after I arrived at Glasgow Central Station, I took a cab back to my apartment.
Love, Samantha
--------------------------
Photos: http://s1046.photobucket.com/home/MathildeCastelijns/allalbums
Carlisle Castle: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/carlisle-castle/
King's Own Royal Border Regiment Museum: http://www.kingsownbordermuseum.btik.com/home.ikml
Carlisle Cathedral: http://www.carlislecathedral.org.uk/
The Queen's Head Inn: http://www.queensheadinn.co.uk/
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